The Three Types of Conference Blogs

Conference Blogs are showing up quite a bit, and some folks within the blogerati (like Josh Hallet, one of the team of 4 who blogged the WOMMA show) are suggesting blogs and even videoblogs become S.O.P. for interactive industry events.

Before too many producers get carried away with blogging shows for the sake of blogging shows, let me offer the following Three Types of Conference Blogs to choose from. I recommend that show producers consider each of these with their teams (particularly their marketing directors and program directors) to determine which is(are) the best fit(s) with the event's style, audience and positioning.

1. Live Blog of Conference Content
This tactic is ideal if you expect news to be made at the conference and you want to quickly disseminate that news, either for the sake of the newsmakers or (appropriately selfishly) to stake a claim on the announcement for the event itself. We saw this happen earlier this month at both CES and MacWorld, where news of the keynote announcements by Yahoo!, Google, Apple and others leaked into the blogosphere and straight through it into the collective industry consciousness in a matter of moments.

If your event is less about news and more about education or professional development (as WOMMA was), Live Blogging ends up serving best as a record of what happened for attendees who were present. It's easy to capture news in a blog ('Steve Jobs just announced the new iPod Teeny is actually a wrist-watch with Wi-Fi and GPS, and holds 200 hours of movies!'), but much more difficult to transcribe an entire presentation in a way that's as functional for non-attendees as it is for those who witnessed it first-hand. So WOMMA smartly includes all its session presentations on its site after the show as well (though to complement the blog record I'd recommend they cross-pollenate somehow so the blog entries AND the presos are in the same place).

2. Behind-the-Scenes Blog During Event
There is some of this in the Ad:Tech Blogs that fire up a day or so before each Ad:Tech, and shut down at about the same time the exhibit hall closes. They will include a perspective not often seen by conference goers on the show's internetworkings or day-before preparations, or a glimpse into the glamorous world of exhibit hall setup and pre-con meetings with hotel staff. While I expect this perspective may be fascinating to at least one or two other people besides me, the most it could hope for with its core consituency would be to personalize the event a little bit, and also serve as a touchpoint for would-be attendees who could not make this particular go-round (both of which are perfect for Ad:Tech, which is battling its 'huger than thou' positioning and, with half a dozen trade shows per year, can use the blog at each one to maintain contact with its regional audiences who don't travel to them all).

3. Pre-Event Blog on Programming and Developments
We don't see this very often. In fact, I don't think we've seen this in a pure form at all yet (let me know if I'm wrong). But imagine a blog that launches with the show's first press release or initial 'Save the Date' postcard or email. Maybe it's written by the Programming Director, who uses the blog to detail the process that goes into deciding what topics to cover, who to solicit as keynote speakers, how to examine each topic selected for inclusion, and the rest of the programming machinations. Blogs are conversations. If well-promoted, suddenly this Program Director has an Advisory Board of 50, or 100, or 5,000 - and that much more feedback behind each decision, and weight behind each invitation. Consider also how this could improve programming. Why not port the pre-event emails and conference calls with the panelists in each session over to the blog, and let them take place out in the open? Instead of talking for two weeks about what they're going to say, let them talk for two weeks and get feedback from their audience in the process, so by the time they hit the stage the conversation is already that far along, and you're well past the fundamentals and squarely into the issues?

Or imagine one written by the Marketing or Sales Director, with quick updates on what booths new exhibitors were signing on for, who would be sponsoring breakfast on Day 2, where the cocktail parties will be, etc. Want Google to sponsor a dinner? Make it as easy as possible for anyone at Google to learn that Yahoo! Search just signed on as the Lunch Sponsor.

It's an Open Source approach to show development, and I can't say for certain how well it would work, or what, precisely it would do. But if done well (and by 'well' I mean with a dedicated effort, focus and authenticity) it would generate buzz. Unlike (1) and (2), this buzz would be before the event, when there is still time to drive sponsorship and gate revenues, and secure even higher profile speakers.

So if you're thinking about a blog for your next event, figure out first what you want it to accomplish, who it's for, and - realistically - what resources you can put into making it effective and, importantly, measuring its effectiveness. And let me know when you do - I want to suscribe to the feed.

UPDATE, 1-26-06 (only about 30 minutes after I posted originally):

I already found a fourth. Check out The Syndicator Blog. It's produced by IDG World Expo and seems to have launched at about the same time the Syndicate Conference was first announced. But instead of just following the topics of the conference as they exist within the conference, the blog follows the topics of the conference in their entirety. The show was in December but the blog is still going strong, covering, well, syndication. And it seems likely to keep at it up until and through the next event in April '06.

Smart. It looks like the Syndicate Blog is a well-constructed tactic to support the Syndicate Conference. But wouldn't it be ironic if after attending their own shows they were able to turn the conference into a tactic to support the blog?

(Where did I find this blog? In my RSS feeds, natch. Next time I start there, then write.)

Comments

[Marianne Richmond]

Interesting..helpful categorizing.

I think a post conference/follow up blog could be useful highlighting "real life" applications of things covered at conference. Maybe that should be a wikki.
Marianne
team of 4

[Ben]

I helped blog the ASAE Annual Meeting last year. It's a combination of 2 or more of the kinds of event blogs you mention:
http://blogs.centeronline.org/XtremeASAEblog/archives/2005/07/index.html

[Shazia]

Great post! I was looking forward and didn’t expect to see it so soon! Again, great, sound advice. Looking forward to reading more under those new tabs you added!